Chapter 1

"Lanna!" called Ivy. Lanna stopped her stride and turned back to look at her. Ivy was panting a little as she caught up with Lanna. "Where are you going! We're going live in fifteen minutes!"

"Ivy..." Lanna didn't know how she should tell her the truth. Instead she settled with; "I'm tired" which was sort of the truth. She was tired of the lies, and she was tired of this lifestyle. All she wanted to do was find 'the one' for her and live happily.

"Well, you can rest after our performance 'kay?" Ivy started to tug on the sleeve of Lanna's dress. "Let's go, Alice is waiting for us."

"I can't do this anymore..." Lanna whispered.

Ivy stopped tugging at Lanna's sleeve and tilted her head to the side a bit, "What did you just say?"

"I said... That I don't want to do this anymore..."

"What are you talking about, Lanna!" Ivy was starting to get worried about her friend. "You're joking right?"

Lanna shook her head. "I'm tired of this. I hate not being able to go out in public without hiding myself. I don't want to live on a schedule! I just... want to quit..."

Ivy took a deep breath and shook her head. "Look, I don't think you're in the right state of mind right now.. Let's just go to the dressing room where Alice is waiting and we'll talk it out, alright?"

With that, they both started for the dressing room. Once they rounded the corner, they saw Alice leaning against the door frame. "What took you guys so long?" She shook her head "We're going live in five minutes... You two better freshen up your make-up." Alice was about to head back into the dressing room when Ivy called out to her.

"Alice..."

"What?"

"Lanna... She-"

"I want to quit."

It had been well over a year since Lanna had first come to the Sunshine Islands. When she had first come to the island, she felt so free. During that time she had met many different types of people, but it was no longer fun sticking around. Sure, she had lots of fun going fishing and hanging out with Denny over the year, but she wanted to have more excitement in her life. Ever since she arrived, only a few people had moved in; maybe around 5. Nevertheless, she was bored. Although she was the one that declared that she wanted to quit, Lanna missed the excitement of performing to her fans. She missed Alice and Ivy, but it was for the best... Right...?

Her head snapped up as she felt a tug at her line. Oops! I forgot I was still fishing! She stood up and started to reel in the fish, but this fish was a tough one. Grr! Why won't you give in? She started to reel the fish in even faster, but this fish wasn't planning on giving in anytime soon. She felt a sharp tug and she reclined a little, but it wasn't enough. Just as she was losing grip on her fishing pole, two sturdy hands came in her field of vision and she was aware of someone's body behind hers. She let out a small gasp. With the help of the stranger they both reeled in the fish.

Lanna let out a breath of relief and she could no longer feel the body warmth of the stranger who had helped her. She turned around to see a young man with blond hair, and green eyes. She must have been staring at him for quite a while, because when he cleared his throat he was blushing with his hand at the back of his head.

"Umm... I'm sorry for doing that..." He was clearly nervous. "It's just that, I thought you'd need a hand..." He trailed off.

"Oh! It's okay!" Lanna smiled. "Thanks for helping me"

"You're welcome." He smiled back. "That's quite a catch you made there." He looked down, gesturing at the fish.

"Yes, thanks to you." They chuckled. "My name's Lanna."

"Mark. I'll be staying at the farm on Ranch Island."

Lanna's eyes widened, "You mean that sad excuse of a farm?" As soon as she realized what she had said she covered her mouth. What am I doing? I don't want to scare him away!

"Really?" Mark frowned "Well, we'll just have to see about that." He smiled once again. "Could you show me where this 'sad-excuse-of-a-farm' is?"

Lanna let out a sigh of relief and smiled, "Of course!"

As they walked in the direction of Ranch Island, they conversed once again.

"So, Mark. What brings you to the Sunshine Islands?" asked Lanna.

He bit his lip and had a faraway look in his eyes, but he replied, "It's... for personal reasons..." Mark looked at her apologetically. "I'll tell you someday" There was a brief silence before they started talking again, "How about you? Why did you come here?"

"For personal reasons as well..."

"Heh... I guess we're sort of similar, in a way."

Lanna smiled and looked at the sky, "I guess we are." They walked a few more miles until they reached Ranch Island. "Well, here it is." She gestured at the farm.

Mark surveyed the farm for a minute or two before replying, "Well, I guess you were right about the whole 'sad-excuse-of-a-farm' part." He quoted with his fingers.

Lanna laughed, "Sorry, I don't mean to scare you away or anything!"

"No worries, I'll just have to work a bit on cleaning up this mess."

The stood around for a while, none of them saying a word. "Well, I think it's about time for me to leave. It was nice meeting you, Mark." She took a step backwards.

"It was nice meeting you too, Lanna. See you around." He grinned.

With that, Lanna took her leave exiting the farm, heading for her house on Sprout Island.

"Now then, let's get to work!" said Mark as he headed for the field.